April
30
EW Ditches Publisher
One sure sign that a magazine is in trouble is a constant stream of new publishers. When I was at Premiere, we had three publishers and editors in three years. And the magazine folded not so long after I left. It makes me sick that EW, where I worked before Premiere, is floundering, as evidenced by the departure of its fifth publisher in as many years. Advertising sucks right now, and circulation is dipping too. But the good news is EW's website is thriving and Time Warner says it will keep publishing the mag under new editor Jess Cagle:
Mr. Donaton, previously the editor-turned-publisher of Advertising Age, became EW's fifth publisher in five years when he accepted the vacant job post 17 months ago. He and Rick Tetzeli, then the managing editor, set about a redesign and re-articulation of the mission designed, among other things, to set EW apart from celebrity magazines. He also oversaw an overhaul of EW's website, boosting the number of blogs, videos and the range of community tools. In January, EW named Jess Cagle to succeed Mr. Tetzeli as managing editor.
But, unsurprisingly given a recession that has caused dramatic drop in many consumer magazines' ad revenue, ad-page declines continued after the redesign. EW's first-quarter ad pages this year came in 38% below their mark in the first quarter last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. They fell 20% in 2008, Mr. Donaton's first year on the job, after falling 13% in 2007 and 8% in 2006. Paid and verified circulation in the second half of 2008 averaged 1.7 million copies, 1% lower than a year earlier, as paid subscriptions dipped almost 3%, EW reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
I was disturbed when my USC film students--unlike my 19-year-old daughter Nora, btw, who doesn't read newspapers but loves such mags as EW, The Week and Teen Vogue--said they didn't read EW, either online or in print. I still read both.
The weekly should not be stinting, in my view, on what they have to offer over the competition--great reporters who can report the hell out of stories early. The web can handle the fast-breaking stuff--but there is room for depth and context and consolidation in the mag. Why bother to do a spring preview that has 150-word capsules? EW can distinguish itself with the seasonal movie and tv and music previews and hot lists and insider reports. Why is writing shorter the answer in the print edition? I wish EW was more like Premiere and less like People. And I wish the studios would step up their endemic advertising and support it, because I for one don't want to live in an online only world. Magazine covers and gorgeous photo spreads and smart elegant profiles by the likes of Christine Spines set up a movie star unlike anything else.
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I, for one, lament the ever-increasing transition from print to online content. A longtime EW subscriber, I rarely if ever visit its online version, prefering to get breaking news/stories from RSS feeds like "Thompson on Hollywood," etc.
It alwayes is a delight to sit down with EW and take my time reading it; whereas with online content I feel rushed — as if I have to move on to the next breaking story.
I will continue to mourn the loss of Premiere and Movieline, yet recognize that I am in the minority.
Posted by: Randy V. | April 30, 2009 at 11:46 AM
I think you described it perfectly:
"I wish EW was more like Premiere and less like People."
I used to love reading EW but I get tired of public relations and marketing masquerading as journalism. If EW went to, as you suggest, longer and more detailed writing and less short stuff and obvious puff pieces, I'd probably go back.
Posted by: Peter | April 30, 2009 at 01:42 PM
You know a magazine is on its way out when there's more white space than text in its design. And the last years of EW has been as white as driven snow. I have never heard of any reader who said, "You know what the problem is with this magazine? Not enough white space."
Posted by: Jeff Brian | April 30, 2009 at 11:52 PM
You're not alone Randy V, I miss Premiere terribly. I can't believe they just let it die.
Posted by: Mark | May 02, 2009 at 03:57 PM